Friday, August 28, 2009

Plum Kuchen

There are some recipes that take the internet by storm, and I think this one is well on its way. I mean, just look at this photo:

(c) 2009 Gourmet -CondeNast Publishing

I don't know about you, but the minute I spotted this in my August issue of Gourmet, I fell in love. It's just so dang beautiful, I had to make it mine. So I set out to bake in my un-air conditioned house in August. Love makes you do crazy things, doesn't it?

My heart went pitter-patter once again when I saw these plums at the Pasadena Farmer's Market:

Be still my bejeweled heart!

I went about making the yeasted "dough" although the consistency is a cross between a bread dough and a cake batter. After letting it rest/rise I cut up the plums and got ready to bake.

So this is where the love story sours just a bit. I swear I don't know WHY I sometimes choose to ignore that little voice of instinct when it starts talking to me, but each time I pretend not to hear it, I regret it. I mean, it's downright stupid really. Trust Your Instincts. I should write that in large red letters and post it on my fridge........or my forehead. You see, for some reason I went against my better judgment and decided to bake the kuchen in glass bakeware instead of aluminum or a cast iron skillet, even though that little voice kept nagging me that I probably wouldn't get great caramelization or browning with glass bakeware. It kept saying, "Don't be a fool, you're gonna get checked if you bake it in glass," and I said, "Who gonna check me, boo?" Wait, sorry that was a quote from Sheree of the Real Housewives of Atlanta. Anyway, you get the point.

Not to say that the cake was a failure by any means: the plums, sugar and butter had created a wonderful syrup that dribbled down the sides of the cake, which was moist, sweet and delicious. I was just disappointed that most of the top didn't really brown very well, and we all know why. Oh, well. Based on looks, I'd give it a 5 but it had great personality overall. Next time: cast iron!